Game of Thrones extra tells tales from the set

Andrew McClay was an extra on Game of Thrones, but he was so much more. He poured himself into the role of a recurring soldier to the point where he got close-ups during key episodes like “Battle of the Bastards,” worked in the costume department, and was even the focal point of The Last Watch, the documentary made to commemorate the making of the show’s eighth and final season.

“I love this world, I’ve lived in it since I was 13,” McClay told the Irish Mirror in an extensive interview. “I remember I went to a pre-release showing of the documentary, [director Jeanie Finlay] and my parents went too. She showed me the poster for the documentary and it was all designed like the Game of Thrones tapestry here in Belfast. She then tells me that I’m in the middle of it. I had to stop myself from crying, it was amazing.”

Appearing in the documentary raised McClay’s profile considerably. “[A] moment I always loved was at Comic-Con,” he remembered. “I was near the bathrooms and this girl just looked at me and started crying. She says to me, ‘it’s you, it’s really you. I cried throughout the entire documentary because you were just so passionate about the show. It inspired me to do more creative stuff’ and all this type of thing. She was proper bawling and I gave her a hug.”

A lot of people have written to me on Facebook and Instagram too. They said I have inspired them to do things and people ask me for tips and advice, They want to know how they can do a fraction of what I did on the show. I just always say to them that I have never felt more alive than I have on the set of Game of Thrones. I was at my most confident and it showed me where I belong.

The legacy of Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland

And now, McClay has even started his own production company to pay things forward. If you ask him, one of the best legacies of Game of Thrones is how it paved the way for a whole new generation of people to get into the TV and movie business, particularly from Northern Ireland, where much of the series was filmed.

“I remember standing on the set of King’s Landing in Season 8 for that pillaging scene,” McClay recalled. “I’m standing next to this friend of mine and he’s always wanted to be a cameraman. He turns around to me and he goes, ‘fuck it, I’m going to ask [cinematographer] Fabian Wagner for a job.’ I was like, ‘go for it big balls.’”

He walks up and goes, ‘Hey Fabian, what’s happening?! I’ve done this kind of thing before and I was wondering if you have any room for anybody on your crew?’ That was a Thursday but then on Monday, I landed on the set and start to get ready for a take before I see my mate holding the clapperboard.! He’d later go off to work with the photographers and stuff like that. He’s still working as a cameraman on different productions now.

According to McClay, there were lots of stories like that. “The production crew and directors on Thrones would never say, ‘get this guy off my set’ if they asked for anything like that, it was never that type of production. Obviously, you need talent and a good work ethic but it was a very encouraging production. I’ve seen an incredible amount of people on the Game of Thrones tours and they’re always asking me, ‘how do you get into the movie industry?” I always say, be an extra and get in that way.”

For example, I also worked in the costume department from Season 6 to Season 8. I remember getting a call from the head of the costume department for Season 8, months before production started. She says: ‘Andrew, I would love to offer you a full-time job’ but I had to say to her, ‘I really appreciate that. But if I take that contract, I can’t fight for Jon Snow.’ She starts joking and says, ‘I knew you’d fucking say something like that!’ but that’s just the type of production it was.

Another of McClay’s extra friends ended up working in the show’s costume department and went on to work on Spider-Man: Far From Home and the Fast and the Furious films. And of course, the show brought a lot of attention to Northern Ireland, which has enjoyed a tourism boom. “I tell people on the tours that Game of Thrones moved into the two vacant slots that were left when the shipping and textile industries left here,” McClay said. “That show gave us a brand new industry and it’s going to change and help people for generations to come.”

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO

The legend of Aberdall Strongbeard

McClay was cleared passionate about his work as an extra. One of his biggest moments came when director Miguel Sapochnik gave him a close-up in “Battle of the Bastards”; the director had asked if any of the extras were “loud,” and of course McClay put his hand up. “[Kristofer Hivju, who plays Tormund Giantsbane] is right beside me at the time and he turns around and goes, ‘oh yes, he is loud Miguel He’s loud this guy!’ Kristof then just winked at me and I thought, ‘oh shit.’”

All those scenes I’m in have different stories to them but with the Battle of the Bastards close-up, I had no idea the camera was on me. The guy just came down with one of the assistant directors and goes, ‘this is it, across the battlefield lies House Bolton’ and he then gives us this speech about the horrors they’ve done to House Stark. I’m just getting angrier and angrier. Then they shout action and Miguel picked my face because he genuinely thought I was about to kill a load of dudes.

The fans noticed McClay popping here and there, to the point where they actually created a backstory for his character, who they named Aberdall Strongbeard. “They’ve formulated this story that I was in the Baratheon army, then I get knocked out of by a horse before they try to reclaim Winterfell from the Boltons,” McClay remembered telling director David Nutter on the set of season 8. “After waking up, my character sees that everyone’s dead and then I run into the forest near Winterfell and live there before joining Jon’s army to fight for House Stark. [David Nutter] just goes ‘amazing, let’s go with that’ and then walks off! David is just a lovely man. All the directors and executive producers, they’re just top people. They’re the world’s best at what they do, they enjoy what they do and they’re addicted to what they do. They have to be.”

Camaraderie among Game of Thrones extras

McClay is chock-full of stories from the set, some of which are borderline surreal, like when he made friends with another extra while filming the Battle of the Bastards. “We’re just talking away and then I ask him does he have a job outside of here. He goes, ‘oh aye, I’m a surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital.’ I was looking at him and going, what the fuck are you doing here, then?’ He says to me: ‘What do you mean, I love Game of Thrones!’ After hearing that, here’s me saying to everyone, ‘nobody crushes his hand!’”

Then this fella says, ‘let me tell you something, my wife is going to kill me because last night, she was talking about where we’re going on holiday this year. She’s mentioning Magaluf and all these other places but here’s me, wasting all of my holiday days doing this mad shit! She’s going to go mental!’ At this point, I just tell him that there’s plenty of time to go to Magaluf but there’s only one Game of Thrones and we’re just laughing our balls off. This fella was just absolutely loving life.

And then he went on to become the stand-in for Rory McCann (The Hound); guy was tall. “They also got on like a house on fire. I have about a thousand memories like that! You could write a book on it.”

You had boys walking out of their jobs to be on this show and the one thing that I always find with a lot of the extras – including myself- is that it was a form of escapism. For example, in Season 8, I walked in one day and noticed that one of my mates was looking really down and sad. He told me that his missus had just left him. I was going, ‘ah shit, what are you going to do?’ and he tells me he doesn’t know what to do. He’s falling apart.

I say to him, ‘you know what you’re going to do? You’re going to get your Night’s Watch costume on, grab your sword and we’re going full throttle against the dead. We’ll have a bit of craic and see what happens.’ I stayed with him all day to make sure he had the craic and thought about something else. At the end of the day, he told me thanks for that. He said it helped him think about something else.

The people who made the Game of Thrones set special

“All the production staff were an absolute joy,” McClay said. “I’ve worked on a lot of TV shows, none of them like Thrones. I remember we were charging through The Long Night episode and going mental. The director (Miguel Sapochnik) shouted ‘cut!’ and I just stopped beside the camera operator. He goes, ‘fucking hell, you’re the best extras in the world. Let’s go again!’ It was just brilliant, the way everybody pulled them in the same direction.

“If everybody just thinks of the story and tries to collectively tell it as best as we can, it’s just magic. I remember Miguel picking out a young fella to feature in a close-up because he looked terrifed and Miguel wanted to use that. This fella started shaking and came to me for a few tips about what he should do on camera and I told him, ‘just do what you’ve done now, there are no cameras but there are over 120,000 wights coming. Just think of that.’

Later on during filming, I would talk to Miguel during the King’s Landing scenes and he said: ‘Listen, Andrew. I only have a certain amount of time to tell a story so as many shots I can get to tell a story, I’ll take them. Cheers for all your help with the extras. Thanks very much.’ Here’s me thinking that I should always be the one thanking him, but that’s the sort of man he is.

McClay has fun stories about the cast members, too, including Kit Harington (Jon Snow), who apparently walked around with an unlit cigarette asking people for a light as a way to break the ice. “I saw him do it on the battle lines at the Battle of the Bastards. He’s here in front of 500 lads, he doesn’t know any of us but we all know who he is and he’s walking around getting to know us. That’s just a sign of what a nice man he is.”

He also had a good relationship with Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth). “I remember saying to him, ‘You’re like my Da, Liam. You look grumpy but you love a joke!’ He instantly replied by saying, ‘what the fuck do you mean I look grumpy? ” and I said ‘well you’re grumpy now, arent’ you?’ and he just burst out laughing.”

For the end of Game of Thrones Season 8, the extras department put on a talent show and all the extras had to be in it. Kit was going to star in it but he had to go and do some theatre work at the time, but I was trying to get Liam to do it instead. He was like ‘what do you want me to do?’ and I was taking the piss and trying to get him to do a dramatic monologue. Liam’s great company to be around.

And finally, Pilou Asbæk (Euron Greyjoy) is just as crazy on set as he looks onscreen. “We were shooting inside the studio on the boat,” McClay remembered. “It was the big naval battle sequence between Yara, Theon and Euron. I arrive and see Pilou (Euron Greyjoy) standing up at the front of the boat and he’s screaming for about 30 seconds before we even hear the word ‘action!’”

We were all watching him and he’s just up there going crazy! Then when you see him walking around the studio in normal clothes, he’s still a wild man but he’s got a handshake and a smile for everyone. He’s just a man that loves having fun and he’s such a lovely guy.

Happy Iron Anniversary, all.

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